Auburn Tigers Baseball outfielder Cade Belyeu stepped out onto the baseball diamond for the team's season opener on Friday, Feb. 14, and it was a feat of resilience and strength. Just hours earlier, Belyeu lost his mom Staci after a battle with cancer. Playing that night was a decision that Belyeu, a sophomore on the team, made alongside his head coach Butch Thompson, father Roger, and the support of his entire baseball team.
"About 10:30 I was wrestling, sitting here trying to figure out,” Thompson told local 1819 News. "'He wants to play. Is he really going to play?' So I called his dad and said, 'I'm the coach and you're the father. What do you want? I yield to you.' And he said Staci wanted him to play."
Before he took his position, Belyeu ran onto the field and got down on bended knee to say a prayer before the team lined up for the National Anthem. The announcer shared with the crowd that Staci passed away that morning from cancer, with Belyeu wiping away tears as he put his hat back on to start the game.
During the bottom of the sixth inning, he stepped up to the plate and took a powerful swing. "Fly ball, right center. It's deep...it's gone! He hit it out of here!" a sportscaster emphatically yells in a video shared on Instagram. Another sportscaster adds, "Some things just transcend the human experience and how sports can bring everybody together."
The clip ends with Coach Thompson talking to the team following the game, giving a touching speech on how incredible Belyeu was. Thompson also gifts Belyeu his home run ball, which was caught by a young fan in the stands but later returned for him to have. His teammates give him a roaring applause, and they embrace as Belyeu wells with tears.
"I think it was the most inspiring thing we've ever seen. The crowd, our crowd is just amazing. They absolutely sensed what was going on with him and the ovation for him," Thompson said. "The home run, that's just how amazing things happen through this game. We want to honor her and I know Cade played for his mom today. That was the number one thing that happened tonight. Some things are bigger than ball. This was one of those moments."
"Amazing things happen through this game," Thompson added. In another interview with Auburn University, Thompson shared Belyeu's willingness to play and home run was, "One of the most inspiring things I have seen in 32 years."
The emotional home run and Belyeu's resilience received an overwhelming response in the video's comments.
"He was right where Mom would have wanted him. Playing the game that he loves. The homerun was her telling him. Lifting this family up in prayer and peace to their aching souls," one wrote.
"Okay, that go[t] me. God Bless him and his family! 🙌❤️😢" another added. Another touched fan wrote, "I cried & cried!!! Tears of thankfulness for a Momma who raised such a fine & strong son!!!"
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